In a wireless communications network, multiple cells or base stations (also referred to as enhanced node Bs or “eNBs”) use frequency bands and standardized codebooks for precoding transmission to their respective subscriber stations (SSs) or user equipments (UEs) using multiple transmit antennas. “Inter-cell interference” occurs when the signals from the multiple cells or base stations interfere with one another, and constrains the throughput of the wireless network.
Typically, a subscriber station would transmit a message to its serving base station indicating that the subscriber station is experiencing high interference from an interfering base station. The serving base station would then send an indication message to the interfering base station requesting that the interfering base station reduce the transmission power over particular resource blocks. By reducing the transmission power at the interfering base station, the interference experienced by the subscriber station is reduced.
However, this approach to reducing interference is not desirable if the subscriber station also is a cell-edge user. In such a situation, reducing the transmission power at the interfering base station would actually result in poor performance of a subscriber station that is at a cell edge.